Saturday

On my flight to Punta del Este (West Point), I kept thinking about all the fun I was going to have: sailing, fishing, swimming, maybe scuba diving... My expectations were high for today, and Punta del Este did not let me down!

The first thing I noticed on the ride to my hotel (on the beach of course!) was the smell of fish! Even in the car with the windows closed I could smell fish. You know how when you pass by a dead skunk you can smell it wherever you are? Same thing here, with fish. When I finally looked out the window, it became obvious what was going on. There was at lease one commercial fishery every two blocks, as well as two bait and tackle shops for every one fishery.

I decided then and there that that was going to be the first thing I did: fish! I climbed out of the car and went straight to the nearest bait and tackle shop I saw. Sadly, this was a very popular shop, so I had to wait for 10 minutes before I could even rent a boat. Then I had to do everything else: getting bait, getting a rod, getting a weight, getting a liscence (which took quite a while), figuring out the cost, and finally paying. Then, I was ready to go out!

It took about an hour of waiting before I finally caught a fish. When I did, it was a really small one, but I was excited all the same. I let it go, due to the fact that it was very small, and tried again. This time, I caught a bigger fish, but it was still small and so I let it go. I decided to throw my line one more time. First mistake. Second mistake: trying to stop the boat from shaking. Eventually, I was treading water soaked to the bone and knowing that my clothes were ruined. But when I felt something brush past my leg, I got right back into the boat and paddled back to shore, and safety.

I now look back on it and realize how comical I was. First, I threw my line too far and almost capsized, but then I was relieved, only to find the boat shaking, which got me into the water. I think I came up laughing, until I felt the something and then I must have had a look of horror on my face. Of course, then comes the part where I'm splashing water all over the place, trying to get back into my boat, and almost making everything else fall out.

Anyway, I got over that and went to eat something. Of course, I had to eat fish, because that's what this place seemed to be all about. So I popped into a restaurant called Fish, Fish, and More Fish, to have a wonderful early dinner. Then, I went back out, this time, to sail.

I have heard that sailing is really fun, and it is. There was some wind today, but not so much that it was hard to control the boat. I had a great time pulling the lever which turned the sail and in turn, turned the boat. I got kind of scared when we were going to pull into the harbor though, and I almost ran into some things, so my instructor took over then. When I got off, I was definitely hungry again (I had been out there for at least two hours!) so I went to a different restaurant and had more fish!

I had a great time today, it was mostly a relaxation day, so tomorrow I'm going to go to the museum-hotel here to learn a little about Punta del Este's history before my flight back in the afternoon. Well, see you later!